KAI Proposes Smaller KF-X Design

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is pushing for South Korea to cut the technical challenges of its proposed KF-X fighter program, offering a single-engine concept that probably has a distant connection with the Lockheed Martin F-16. KAI's KFX-E design should be cheaper to develop and build than the larger proposals put forward by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), the chief proponent of the KF-X.

Also much smaller than and more differentiated from the Lockheed Martin F-35, the KFX-E may offer the further advantage of minimizing competition from that U.S. stealth fighter. But it may have Lockheed Martin or other U.S. intellectual property in its design, exposing it to a foreign veto over sales or even development.

Seoul will probably have a foreign alternative to consider, too. Western proposals for KF-X include twin-tail developments of the F-16 and Eurofighter Typhoon, and an advanced version of the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Those offerings were included as technology transfer in bids for the separate F-X Phase 3 program for 60 fighters. F-X Phase 3 has been abandoned, but a successor competition will be needed, probably reviving foreign KF-X proposals.

KAI has moved from cooperation to competition with ADD. For a decade, the manufacturer was a design contractor in support of the agency. But industry officials say that at least some KAI executives have long regarded ADD's plan to develop a twin-engine Typhoon-size KF-X as too ambitious. Meanwhile, the South Korean government has repeatedly deferred launching the KF-X. If it goes ahead, it cannot enter service before the mid-2020s. Cutting costs by accepting a smaller size would probably improve the program's chances.

In July, KAI coyly published a picture of a stealthy KF-X concept related to its T-50 supersonic trainer and called KFX-E (or KF-X-E). It gave no details then and did not respond to Aviation Week's request for comment (AW&ST July 22, p. 33). But now the company has stepped up to make its case for the aircraft, arguing at an official seminar that the KFX-E would meet all air force requirements, except for being powered by just one engine.